A U.S. Army veteran with an Islamic State flag plowed a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers on New Year's Day in New Orleans, killing at least 15 people.
The FBI identified the attacker as Shamsud-Din Jabar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen from Texas who was a real estate agent in Houston and a former IT specialist in the Army.
Police Chief Ann Kirkpatrick described Jabar as a "terrorist," while the FBI said "there was an IS flag in the vehicle," referring to the Islamic State group.
"The FBI is working to determine the subject's potential ties to terrorist organizations," the agency said in a statement.
U.S. President Joe Biden, describing the attack as "disgusting," said that hours before, Jabar had posted videos online "that show he was inspired by ISIS."
Authorities are also searching for other individuals possibly linked to the attack.
"We're going after bad people," Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said.
The suspect drove a white Ford F-150 electric pickup truck into a group of pedestrians, then got out and was killed in a shootout with police. Two homemade bombs were found and neutralized.
Two wounded police officers are in stable condition and recovering.
The Pentagon said Jabbar served in the Army as a human resources specialist and IT specialist from 2007 to 2015 and then in the Army Reserve until 2020.
He was deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010, an Army spokesman explained.
Biden indicated that any possible links between the attack and the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, partly owned by US President-elect Donald Trump, were being investigated. One person died in the blast.
"There's nothing to report on that for now," Biden clarified. Las Vegas police so far believe there is no connection between the two incidents.
Trump himself immediately linked the New Orleans attack to illegal immigration. | BGNES, AFP
